WEIDMAN TOUGH ENOUGH? NOT WHEN HE FIGHTS SILVA

Anderson Silva will face Chris Weidman in what is arguably his biggest challenge yet on Saturday night.

Arguably because he has already faced the likes of Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin and Chael Sonnen. He also has dominated all of them. Sonnen came the closest to taking Silva’s crown, one that he has worn for more than six years. Sonnen repeatedly took Silva down and controlled him in their first meeting and was finished via triangle choke when he made his first and only mistake of the fight.

But Sonnen never hurt Silva. No one has. Silva is too smart, too fast, too patient and too accurate, and 25 minutes is too long for anyone to go mistake-free and defeat him. That includes Weidman.

Weidman is touted as being like Sonnen, just better in every way. He’s an Olympic-caliber wrestler with striking to match. He fights mean, he’s tough and he’s undefeated. He’s also almost 10 years younger than Silva, 38. On paper, this is a stage set to finally see a new champion in the middleweight division.

Here’s why that’s not going to happen:

Silva is patient. He will take his time getting started in this fight. He will take some punches, probably get taken down and maybe even get controlled for the first round. Everyone will go crazy for Weidman, sensing a pending victory. Silva will keep calm, study his opponent, and see the openings that Weidman certainly will show. As aggressive as Weidman is, his standup leaves a lot of openings, and Silva has a nearly 70 percent accuracy rate for significant strikes landed. And when Silva lands strikes, megamen turn into children. Ask Henderson.

Silva is balanced. I don’t mean that Silva is only balanced in his fighting, which he is, but he’s balanced in his life. Throughout his career, he has kept his friends real, doesn’t get caught up in his superstar status and puts his family and country ahead of everything else. Silva is a god in his native Brazil and has the money to match, but he doesn’t act like it. He knows how all eyes are on him. He doesn’t talk trash because he knows that in a moment he could disappoint legions of fans who have always looked up to him. Most impressive is that Silva has fun. He’s always laughing and smiling, dancing and joking after a lifetime of fighting. That’s rare.

Should Silva fall on Saturday night, I’ll eat my words. But at this point in his career, it is impossible for him to lose. That’s because no matter if he walks out of the cage with the belt or not, his entire life is a victory. He has 16 wins in the UFC, undefeated in the organization, and holds a host of records. He is the overwhelming choice by fighters themselves as the best-ever pound-for-pound fighter anywhere on the planet. And these days, he gleams in his interviews about how happy he is as a human being.

There is only one thing left for him to accomplish, and my hope is that we witness it this weekend. Following his win, and being strapped with gold once more, Silva removes his gloves, kneels, places them in the center of the Octagon and leaves them. Anderson Silva retires on top, untainted, uninjured, undefeated and uncompromised. That is something that has never happened in the sport and would be his greatest legacy.